Pushbutton control device for a radio receiver

ABSTRACT

A pushbutton device for tuning telecommunication receivers, such as radio receiving sets, which provides for instantaneous adaptation to local broadcasting and reception conditions by manipulation of the pushbutton which is assigned a multiplicity of wave bands and/or the types of modulations within the range of the receiver.

United States Patent Grandin 51 Jan. 25, 197 2 PUSHBUTTON CONTROL DEVICE FOR References Cited A RADIO RECEIVER UNITED STATES PATENTS [721 Invent: d'orves 3,212,343 10/1965 Clark ..74/1o.37 Le Perm, fiance 3,247,728 4/1966 Wolf et al. ....74 10.33 [22] Filed; Oct 6, 19 9 3,276,274 10/1966 Machts et al. ..74/10.27 3,412,619 11/1968 Pelletier ..74/l0.33 1 pp 864,125 3,487,702 1/1970 Hosch et al. ..74/10.27

Primary ExaminerMilton Kaufman Foreign Application Priority Data Attorney-Waters, Roditi, Schwartz and Nissen Oct. 4, 1968 France ..l68697 [5 ABSTRACT A pushbutton device for tuning telecommunication receivers, [2%] (5| ..74/ Such as radio receiving sets which provides for instantaneous E g i 29 1O 27 adaptation to local broadcasting and reception conditions by manipulation of the pushbutton which is assigned a multiplicity of wave bands and/or the types of modulations within the range of the receiver.

7 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIEU m2 5 2572 SHEET 1 BF 4 FIGQ PATENTEB masmz 3.636776 sum 2 OF 4 PATENTEB JAMES 1972 SHEET s 0F 4 PUSHBU'I'ION CONTROL DEVICE FOR A RADIO RECEIVER The invention relates to the adjustment of radio receiving sets for tuning them to broadcasting transmissions.

It has been proposed with the object of facilitating the reception of broadcasting stations, more especially in circumstances where the user does not have much time and cannot pay attention to his manipulation in addition to the continuous tuning in rotating knobs to provide the receiving sets with pushbuttons, the depression of which automatically brings about the tuning to a desired station.

Until now the user has the possibility of making a specific pushbutton correspond to a specific station, this being by means of a previous adjustment, most often by manipulation of the pushbutton when the continuous tuning member of the set is in a particular position, but the said station has to be comprised within a specific wave band.

In the known pushbutton receiving sets, each button is assigned to a wave band or to a predetermined type of modulation.

In the course of use, more especially when the radio receiver is to be mounted in a vehicle, the set is not adapted to changing conditions of reception, more especially when the set is mounted in a vehicle travelling in various regions of a country or in various countries, other than by removal of the set and conversion in the factory, a practically impossible operation.

The object of the invention is a control method and device which, in a radio receiving set comprising pushbuttons, or keys or a fingerboard, allows instantaneous adaptation to the conditions of local reception or to the wishes of the user, or to the-type of transmission favored in a specific country, short waves or long waves, or else modulation of frequency, etc.

The invention is characterized in that a pushbutton, instead of being assigned to a single wave band or one predetermined type of modulation, can, at will, be assigned to any one of the multiplicity of the wave bands and/or of the types of modulation that the set is capable of receiving, and in that it is a manipulation of the button itself which allows the modification of this assignment.

In one embodiment, this manipulation consists in a rotation of the button about its axis.

The invention also relates to a mechanism which, inserted between an actuating button and tuning members of a receiving set, allows the said set to be tuned, from the said button, selectively in accordance with one wave band or another wave band or one type of modulation in conformity with the condition of the mechanism to which a specific band corresponds, more especially in conformity with the angular position of the actuating button.

The invention will be understood in accordance with the description which follows, given by way of example and with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view in elevation of a radio receiver equipped with a device in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the functioning of a device in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a pushbutton assembly;

FIG. 3A is a front view, on an enlarged scale, of the square cam shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 is a corresponding view of the mounted assembly;

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of a device in accordance with the invention on a car radio receiver;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view, on a larger scale, of a part of a device in accordance with the invention; and,

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a pushbutton assembly.

The tuning device in accordance with the invention, which can be used more especially on a car radio receiver, comprises a row of pushbuttons 10,, 10,, etc. 10, (FIG. 1) which jut out over the front face 11 of the receiver comprising the usual stop-start knob 12 which also plays the role of volume control and the knob 13 for the manual tuning, revealed by the shifting of an indicator 14 in .front of a dial 15.

Each of the pushbuttons 10 comprises a head 16 (FIG. 3), bounded by perpendicular plane facets q, r, s, t, which can be shifted by traction away from the face 11 and be depressed to effect the tuning of the receiver to a broadcasting frequency, according to the position of a cam 17 mounted pivotally about an axis 18 on a slide 19. The cam is adapted to cooperate with the parallel rods 20, 20' (FIG. 4) of a rocker device 21 mounted pivotally on the frame 22 of the receiver and which carries, in known per se" manner, the tuning means, for example, a device having variable inductances.

The head 16 is integral with one end of a rod 23 (FIGS. 3 and 4), the other end of which is made integral with a loop portion 24 of a small plate 25, substantially in the shape of a tuning fork, coupled to the slide 19, mounted for longitudinal sliding with regard to this latter and a prong 26 of which ends in a lug 27. The end of the small plate 25, remote from the head 16, carries a teat 28 which, upon the depression of the pushbutton, brings about the pivoting of a lever 29 about an axis perpendicular to the slide 19, for immobilizing the cam 17 in its position.

In accordance with the invention, means are provided on the device in order, by a simple manipulation by a user, to allow at least one of the pushbuttons to be associated selectively with a wave band and/or with a predetermined type of modulation.

In the embodiment described and shown, these means comprise a cam 30, shown in detail in FIG. 3A having a square contour, fixed, by way of example with the aid of a screw 39, to the rod 23 mounted for rotation with regard to the slide 19. Contrived on the faces 31, 32, 33 and 34 of the cam 30 are ribs parallel to the axis of the rod 23, designated respectively by 35, 36, 37 and 38, the distances of at least two of the ribs to the centers of the faces of the cam being different. Integral with the rod 23 there is also a square 40, adapted to cooperate with a leaf spring 41 through an aperture 42 of the slide 19, the spring 41 jutting out beyond the end portion of the slide 19 so as to penetrate inside the cam 30 and immobilize this latter in rotation when the pushbutton is in its position corresponding to the blocking of the cam 17.

Mounted on the frame of the receiver is a small plate 46 (FIG. 2) having cutouts in the shape of an inverted V," having sides 47 and 48, the number of the cutouts being equal to that of the pushbuttons. Each cutout ends, at its summit, in a slot 45 of dimensions paired to those of a rib 35-38 and in which such a rib can engage upon the depression of a pushbutton. Integral with the small plate 46 are two small connecting rods 49' and 49 (FIG. 5), themselves connected to a device 50, a sliding one, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2 for determining a wave band or a type of modulation.

Guided in front of the small plate 46, for longitudinal sliding, are guide plates 53 (FIG. 6), having a hole 54; each guide plate is integral with a boss 56 housed in a buttonhole 52 of a support sheet 51, a restoring spring 55 traversing all the bosses 56. In the position of rest of the pushbuttons, each guide plate 53 covers a facet q-t of the head 16 of the pushbutton with which it is associated. The depression of a pushbutton brings about the eclipsing of the corresponding guide plate, against the action of the spring 55, by the known means, not shown, serving to keep a guide plate in the eclipsed position for as long as another pushbutton is not depressed.

The operation is as follows:

In the condition of rest of a pushbutton assembly, this latter is in the position shown, for example, for the button 10 in FIG. 5, the corresponding guide plate 53 being in the position shown at 53 that is to say above a facet q-t of the head 16,.

When one wishes to have a pushbutton correspond to a wave band and/or a given type of modulation, one extracts away from the front face 1 l of the receiver the pushbutton assembly chosen so as to bring it, by traction, in the direction of the arrow P into the position shown for the pushbutton 10,. By rotation of the head 16 about the axis of the rod 23, one

brings one of the facets q! of the head 16 on which are carried identification details, for example GO, PO, C, FM, to be in the upper horizontal position, with, as a consequence, the placing into the operative position of one of the ribs 35-38. Thus, for example, the rib 35 occupies the position shown at a (FIG. 2) when the indication GO of the head 16 is visible, the rib 36 occupying the position shown at b when the indication PO is visible, etc. If the head 16 having been brought into the position for which the rib 35 is operative, one depresses the pushbutton, the said rib penetrating into a slot 45 of the small plate 46 to position this latter in correspondence with the longitudinal direction defined by the rib 35, as shown at a. The displacement of the small plate 46 involves that of the device 50, which defines, for the radio receiver, a wave band or a specific type of modulation, in the case under consideration the band GO. After depression of the pushbutton, elastic means, not shown, bring this latter back into its initial position, and the search for a broadcasting station in the wave band or the definite type of modulation is then possible with the aid of the manual tuning device 13. When a broadcasting station has been located, and one wishes to assign the pushbutton to the said station, one removes the said pushbutton once more from the face 11 of the receiver by a traction in the direction of the arrow P which has the effect of freeing the cam 17 from the said button. If, as from this prominent position of the assembly of the pushbutton, one depresses once more in the direction of the arrow P one brings first the cam 17, not locked, into contact with the rods 20 and 20' of the tuning device occupying the position in which it has been adjusted by actuation of the manual tuning button and, if one continues to exert a pressure for the depression, the displacement of the small plate with which the rod 23 is integral brings about, through the medium of the lever 29, the locking of the earn 17 in a position corresponding to that of the rods 20, 20'.

Upon a subsequent actuation, the depressing of the said pushbutton causes, on the one hand, the rib 38 to cooperate with a slot 45 for the determination of the wave band or of the type of modulation previously chosen and, on the other hand, causes the cam 17, locked in the position previously determined, to cooperate with the rods 20 and 20' of the tuning mechanism, this latter having been previously disengaged from the manual tuning device by means (not shown), the actuation of which is under the dependence of the lug 27 then jutting out.

If, a pushbutton having been assigned to a specific station of a wave band or of a given type of modulation, one wishes, for example, when the vehicle which is equipped with the receiver has moved and/or the conditions of reception have changed, to assign to the said button a station of a different wave band or of another type of modulation, it is sufficient to perform once more the sequence of operations described above.

In this way a tuning device is obtained in which all the pushbottons provided with selection means according to the invention can be assigned to one and the same wave band and/or to a given type of modulation, in this way multiplying the possibilities afforded to a listener.

The depression of a pushbutton also brings about that of the corresponding guide plate, which facilitates, by simple visual reference, the identification of a broadcasting station previously chosen.

In another embodiment, the means associated with the device in accordance with the invention to assign in a selective manner at least one of the pushbuttons to wave band or to a specific type of modulation comprise a wedge, or a pin, the introduction of which into an opening contrived on the head of the pushbutton or on the front face of the receiver brings about the displacement of a cam, or of a lug, which, through the medium of an appropriate mechanism, associates a wave band or a specific type of modulation with the pushbutton.

Reference is now made to FIG. 7 relating to a variant. In this variant, the body 101 of the pushbutton, the rod of which, not shown, comprises means for the adjustment of the frequency tuning to a specific value, additionally adjustable, corresponds to a station which one wishes to receive comprises a parallelepipedic block 102, with four lateral faces in the example, and each of which carries a finger 105, the projections of which with regard to the frontal face 106 are different from one another.

By rotation of the pushbutton about its axis 107, one brings selectively one of the fingers opposite a commutation bar 1 08, for example, in the shape of a U, and which is mounted for rotation about an axis 109 perpendicular to the axis 107. The said bar entrains, by an arm 110, a cranked lever 1 11, which is connected by a tail 1 12 to the contactor 1 13.

According to the angular position of the pushbutton around its axis 107, the pressure on the pushbutton brings about the conducting of the contactor 1 13 into one of four specific positions, by a movement according to the double arrow f.

To each of these positions there corresponds a condition of the receiver in frequency band or in modulation.

With the same commutation bar there cooperate the various pushbuttons in the case of a set having several pushbuttons.

What I claim is:

1. In a pushbutton tuning device for a telecommunication receiver comprising tuning means, at least one pushbutton slidingly mounted on a support for tuning the receiver to at least one preselected frequency, and means for operating the receiver on a selected frequency band and type of modulation, the improvement comprising: a control mechanism connected to said receiver operating means; operating connections in said control mechanism adapted to be actuated by depression of at least said one pushbutton to locate said operating me ans in one of its predetermined positions corresponding to a determined frequency band and type of modulation; first preadjustable cam means corresponding in number to the number of pushbuttons, each cam means being arranged along the axis of the pushbutton with which it is associated to determine the tuning frequency when one of said pushbuttons is depressed; a head on at least one of said pushbuttons adapted to be pulled outwardly of said receiver and being rotatable to a plurality of stable positions, said head being operatively connected to said first cam means; second cam means integral with said head having an operating position corresponding to one of said stable positions, said operating connections each having a camsurfaced member adapted to cooperate with said second cam means when said pushbutton is depressed, so as to actuate the operating means of the frequency band and selected type of modulation for the receiver corresponding to one of the stable positions of the pushbutton head and, through the cooperation of the first cam means associated with said pushbutton and the tuning means, locate said tuning means in a position corresponding to the selected tuning frequency.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, including rod means on which said pushbutton head is rotatably mounted, slide means movable conjointly with said rod means, said slide means carrying said first cam means, said slide means and said first cam means being rendered inoperative upon said head and rod means being pulled outwardly of said receiver and moved into an operating position by depression of the pushbutton, said first cam means controlling the tuning on a predetermined frequency upon subsequent actuation of the said pushbutton.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second cam means comprises a parallelipiped shaped block having ribs formed thereon, said block being rotatably mounted on said rod and formed integral with the pushbutton head, each of said ribs being at a different radial distance from the central axis of the rod.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each pushbutton comprises a head mounted for rotation into different stable positions, said second cam means carried on each head which, upon depression of its respective pushbutton, determines the actuation of the control mechanism connected to the means controlling the frequency band and type of modulation of the receiver.

into inoperative position, whereby actuation of a pushbutton causes the indicator means associated with said button to be eclipsed to facilitate identification of the actuated button, depression of another button effecting, in addition to the eclipsing of the indicator means associated therewith, the return to initial condition of the indicator means associated with the previously actuated pushbutton.

7. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said head includes means for establishing at least four stable positions.

l i i 4 

1. In a pushbutton tuning device for a telecommunication receiver comprising tuning means, at least one pushbutton slidingly mounted on a support for tuning the receiver to at least one preselected frequency, and means for operating the receiver on a selected frequency band and type of modulation, the improvement comprising: a control mechanism connected to said receiver operating means; operating connections in said control mechanism adapted to be actuated by depression of at least said one pushbutton to locate said operating means in one of its predetermined positions corresponding to a determined frequency band and type of modulation; first preadjustable cam means corresponding in number to the number of pushbuttons, each cam means being arranged along the axis of the pushbutton with which it is associated to determine the tuning frequency when one of said pushbuttons is depressed; a head on at least one of said pushbuttons adapted to be pulled outwardly of said receiver and being rotatable to a plurality of stable positions, said head being operatively connected to said first cam means; second cam means integral with said head having an operating position corresponding to one of said stable positionS, said operating connections each having a cam-surfaced member adapted to cooperate with said second cam means when said pushbutton is depressed, so as to actuate the operating means of the frequency band and selected type of modulation for the receiver corresponding to one of the stable positions of the pushbutton head and, through the cooperation of the first cam means associated with said pushbutton and the tuning means, locate said tuning means in a position corresponding to the selected tuning frequency.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, including rod means on which said pushbutton head is rotatably mounted, slide means movable conjointly with said rod means, said slide means carrying said first cam means, said slide means and said first cam means being rendered inoperative upon said head and rod means being pulled outwardly of said receiver and moved into an operating position by depression of the pushbutton, said first cam means controlling the tuning on a predetermined frequency upon subsequent actuation of the said pushbutton.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said second cam means comprises a parallelipiped shaped block having ribs formed thereon, said block being rotatably mounted on said rod and formed integral with the pushbutton head, each of said ribs being at a different radial distance from the central axis of the rod.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each pushbutton comprises a head mounted for rotation into different stable positions, said second cam means carried on each head which, upon depression of its respective pushbutton, determines the actuation of the control mechanism connected to the means controlling the frequency band and type of modulation of the receiver.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pushbutton head comprises flat surfaces disposed angularly respective to each other, and each of said surfaces characterizing the frequency band and the type of modulation which the receiver is capable of receiving corresponding to the second cam means carried by said head.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an indicator means associated with each pushbutton, said indicator means being mounted for movement axially relative to the pushbutton, and resilient means urging said indicator means into inoperative position, whereby actuation of a pushbutton causes the indicator means associated with said button to be eclipsed to facilitate identification of the actuated button, depression of another button effecting, in addition to the eclipsing of the indicator means associated therewith, the return to initial condition of the indicator means associated with the previously actuated pushbutton.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said head includes means for establishing at least four stable positions. 